Ice Cream Run & Other Adventures

Monday was one of those Air Quality Advisory days, but I really needed to blow off steam (more on that later), so I decided to hit up this country club a few miles away for lap swim. I did a mile workout, and despite still feeling a lingering cold all week, I felt great afterward. This was my first time swimming at that particular pool, and it was kind of a surreal experience, mainly because all of the other swimmers there were actually swimming laps too. (I'm pretty sure this was the first time in my entire life that I've ever gone to any kind of "open lap swim" hour at a facility and had that happen. The norm seems to be that lap lanes are reserved for crab-walking on the bottom, wrestling, floating on fun noodles or a random lady taking up a lane to do water aerobics.) So yeah. This was a rare treat, indeed.

On Tuesday, the new running skort I ordered from Athleta came in the mail, and even though it was all gross and muggy and hot outside (another air advisory day), I decided to try it out anyway. Since it was crappy out and I also didn't feel like cooking a normal healthy dinner, I decided to make Tuesday a fun day by doing an Ice Cream Run! For those of you who've never done one before.... ...an ice cream run is where you go for a normal easy run or out-and-back, but stop for ice cream either afterward or along the way. I don't know if it's a real thing, but once or twice in high school we got to do a Slurpee run, and I kind of got the idea from that.

I was kind of nervous about running in the skort. I have no idea why, because it's not really any more or less than normal running shorts, but I guess it's probably because I'm really tall. Really, it just made me look kind of like a Russian tennis player.

I've gotta say, usually I'm jealous of guys. I mean, guys get to stop drinking beer in mass quantities and they lose weight like, 2 seconds later. Guys get to pee standing up, so they don't have to deal with gross peed up public toilet seats or accidentally peeing on their pants when they go camping. Guys don't have periods, either. And they usually also get judged a lot less for farting in public. But, you know what? GUYS DON'T GET TO RUN IN SKORTS. And OMG are they comfortable! Haha.

So yeah. I ended up doing around 3.5 miles that day. The first split was unintentionally at my tempo run pace (that never happens), and the subsequent splits were around my half marathon goal pace, so that was pretty cool, especially since I wasn't really trying. All in all, I was feeling pretty comfortable until I got to downtown and stopped for ice cream. One random guy was like, "I can't believe you're running today! Keep it up!" and this other lady in the ice cream shop said "I saw you running out there, you deserve that ice cream!" when I went in to get my scoop of pistachio in a waffle cone. BUT, I also got a lot of really dirty looks while I was in downtown. They were like, death glares. Several of them. I even saw one lady whisper something to a guy, and they both looked at me and started laughing. At least I thought they were looking at me. I don't know. I started to feel really self conscious. Am I too fat to be wearing this? Do I look slutty? Are they making fun of me because I'm so fat I'm eating in the midst of a workout? A million overly critical thoughts raced through my head. I ate as fast as I could and booked it the rest of the way home. As I was getting back to my neighborhood, a woman I passed who was also in workout clothes said hi to me. I said hi and awkwardly mumbled something about it being really hot out, and she was just like, "You make it look so easy and I love your outfit!". That made me feel a little bit better.

When I got home, I downed some water and asked DBF if there was something wrong with the outfit or if it was giving off too much of a Sailor Moon vibe. He lol'd and was just like, "No, the shorts under those are the exact same thing as the compression shorts everyone wears for running, and there's a skirt over it. If anything, it looks less trashy." That made me feel a little better, too.

Then I decided to make a bar graph about my first experience running in a skort. I took all of the notable things that happened on the run and categorized them, then rated them on a scale of 1 to 5. Much below average received a 1, Much above average was a 5, and 3 was neutral. You get the idea. Here were my findings:

So, yeah. There you have it.

Wednesday's run was an interval run on a route that I don't really take that often. It went as expected and nothing too remarkable happened, except for the part where I discovered that the song, "Turn Down for What" perfectly matches my running.

I had family from out of state come out to stay at my house for the weekend. My aunt's daughter is 7 and is doing her first 5k in about a week or so, so she wanted me to take her running. I got stuck going at 8:00 A.M., and we ended up doing a solid 3.25 easy miles with only two stops for water. It was the farthest she ever ran! After we got back, her mom sat there analyzing all of the splits and was like, "I'd really like to see her be under 12:00 mile pace in her 5k." That kind of annoyed me. Maybe I'm too judgmental, or I have too low of standards, but if that was my kid, I wouldn't be sitting there all worried about what pace she was doing her long runs at, and especially not when she's 7 years old, and it's her first 5k. Chill out.

The rest of the weekend was pretty busy. After a quick rollerblade before it started to storm, I spent most of today just resting and recovering from all the stuff we did this weekend (running, fishing, eating, visiting my grandpa, car show, fireworks).

Oh yeah.

Aaaaaaaaand the NRR story about why I went to lap swim. Last weekend, I was came home from my friend's house at night and was carrying a box of stuff in when this guy comes up to me at my car. I recognized him as one of my neighbor's friends, but I don't really know him that well, and he asks me for money. I said I don't have any. Then my neighbor, who is sitting on her porch watching the whole thing, asks me if I will give her a few beers, or if I will give her money to buy alcohol and smokes with. I said no, and she just sat there yelling and swearing at me from her porch. Then the guy asks if he can help me carry stuff into my house. I responded with a, "Oh, no thanks. This is really light, I've got it." and she yelled at me for not letting him carry the box into my house. WTF? Now every time I go outside, she either yells at me, or ignores me completely. So yeah. It's kind infuriating, annoying and rude.

I dunno. I always try to be polite. Really, who wants to fight with someone who they have to live by? But seriously, ugh. Stuff like this happens regularly. Sometimes, I will purposely wake up at 5 A.M. to take the trash out so I don't have to talk to her.

Perhaps your neighbor and her friend need a will work for beer sign and an intersection to work . I coach XC and we have a couple ice cream runs a year. We run to the DQ and eat Dilly Bars and then back to the school. we also have fun Friday where we do scavenger runs and have pop sickles or ice cream bars when we are done. Long May You Run.

i love running skirts! I definitely overanalyze the way people look at me when I'm wearing something I deem to be more "daring" than my usual running attire. it's hard to ignore the "glares" but I know exactly what you mean. ignore them, your skirt is cute & if you feel comfortable, then who cares!? easier said than done, I know.

i occasionally do donut (or bagel) & coffee runs, but always walk on the way back or else I'd definitely puke. i could not do ice cream tho because i'm lactose intolerant. but it sounds fantastic...

1. Your neighbor is a real prize. I don't know what I'd do besides just avoiding her too.

2. Your running skort is awesome, it totally gives off a Russian tennis pro vibe (in a good way!) and you have some killer quads. Screw the haters, you look great and it sounds like you enjoy running in it, so rock on!

+1 aschmid--you neighbor is totally being a rude jerk--ask your neighbor for money to buy beer and cigarettes? Who does that? Also agree with you on your rant! And I remember slurpee days from HS the day before a big race--we did that back in the 80s when I was at Mercy HS in the Detroit area.

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